Possible Missouri Valley Conference Expansion

[valpotx]

disagree with 1314. Why not SFA? Proven excellence in men's and women's basketball. cripe, the men's team beat Duke at their home court! Good teachers college like Illinois State and UNI. beautiful campus in the Piney Woods. decent fan base. Hours from two major metro cities. Perfect fit for the Valley.

Wow, if you consider 3 hours to Dallas, and 3 hours to Houston, as being 'close' to two major metro cities, a lot of universities might be able to stake that claim.  I can guarantee you that no one in either metro area would think of SFA as just a hop, skip, or jump away from our areas .  Heck, let's count Austin as a third major city that is 'close' by, as it is only 4 hours!

[vuny98]

disagree with 1314. Why not SFA? Proven excellence in men's and women's basketball. cripe, the men's team beat Duke at their home court! Good teachers college like Illinois State and UNI. beautiful campus in the Piney Woods. decent fan base. Hours from two major metro cities. Perfect fit for the Valley.

Wow, if you consider 3 hours to Dallas, and 3 hours to Houston, as being 'close' to two major metro cities, a lot of universities might be able to stake that claim.  I can guarantee you that no one in either metro area would think of SFA as just a hop, skip, or jump away from our areas .  Heck, let's count Austin as a third major city that is 'close' by, as it is only 4 hours!

You guys are all missing the most important fact about SFA. Sure its in the middle of nowhere Texas. Sure its 1000 miles away from Valpo, sure its going to add over a hundred thousand dollars a year in travel costs for each University when you combine all the sports teams... The real reason SFA makes sense... Their football stadium is called "HOMER BRYCE Stadium". I mean if that's not a sign I don't know what is.

[vu72]

I'm with wh on this.  None of it makes sense unless and until someone leaves.  The conference is just fine as is.  SFA makes about as much sense as Central Connecticut State, Southern Utah or Centenary.

[VUGrad1314]

It doesn't sound like we're going to see a dramatic shift in operating style from the new commissioner and that includes the expansion issue. He's basically left it up to the presidents. He says (rightly) that he is sure that a lot of schools probably look at the Valley and wonder if maybe it is a place they should aspire to go and that the Valley would probably be attractive on the expansion market but his first and foremost loyalty is to the current member institutions. If the presidents feel that it will enhance the league it will happen if not it probably won't or at least it will not be pushed for ardently by the commissioner himself. This is a stance I am more than fine with at this time as long as we can maintain multibid status and succeed in the tournament and there exist no schools that could raise our overall baseline in regard to that goal. The list of schools that would immediately raise that profile is very short a lot of the ones I mentioned as a possible "short list" are somewhat speculative bets on potential but I have no way of quantifying how committed these schools would be to competing\spending at the MVC level and in some cases how the travel would impact them and current league members. It's one thing to raise the budget but if a good bit of that is offset and eaten up by increased travel have you really done yourself any favors competitively? I am still pro expansion but much less ardently so now that we have shown that multiple bids are possible with our current alignment. If that evolves into the new baseline of sorts then I will see much less need to expand the league beyond a very select group of candidates and even then I would have some pause. If the MVC can get to be a 2-3 bid league on its own then our current ten is the way forward. If however a school like say Belmont or Murray State or some other school starts wedging themselves into the at large conversation somewhat regularly and\or kicking butt in March (looking at you ORU) I think we can all agree that we would be doing ourselves a major disservice by not offering them a spot. You can certainly argue that no school has done so regularly enough to warrant the kind of hot commodity status that my previous posts have afforded them but if say ORU makes another run or Belmont somehow gets another at large or very close to it or Murray State wins another tournament game or some other program pops off (South Dakota State breaks through and wins in March Wright State or NKU start dominating the HL the way we did) within the next few years I think we'd have to really take a look at bringing them in. We may disagree on expansion but I think we can both agree that we want the alignment that brings us the strongest league possible and the most opportunities in the postseason possible however that looks. I think the new commissioner (as did his predecessor) shares this view and (hopefully) the MVC presidents do too. Just please don't do anything stupid like adding schools like UTA because it might bring in a handful of students from Texas. That is not the kind of decisionmaking a league like the MVC should be engaging in. I'd argue that that is the kind of decisionmaking we went to the Valley to get away from.

http://www.valleyhoopsinsider.com/same-values-with-a-new-voice/

[johnu1]

Just finished getting caught up on the thread and, as an Evansville alum/fan, I think it's interesting that one of the desired criteria would be the ability to win in March. Not sure what that means other than, the Aces aren't exactly achieving that. While I won't ridicule VU quite as much owing to better results over the same amount of time, is it that we expect newcomers to prop up the programs that aren't excelling? I mean, I don't think UE should be thrown out of the Valley, but ... ha-ha ... we'd be kind of like the ugly kid you stick in the closet when company comes to admire all your other handsome offspring.

I don't know if the non-revenue sports are in this conversation but the Valley is a really good baseball conference. So I will keep this at men's BB and let that topic carry its own message.

The interesting changes in how D-1 sports shakes out now that the NCAA has legalized tampering ... whatever on that.


I guess I am still not sold on the need to expand the conference. It seems the only way to do that is to cannibalize some other mid-major conference. I'd be real conservative about that until we see what this absurd '1,500 players in the portal' looks like on Aug. 15.

It will not look like the product you ordered from Amazon.

[valpo64]

Well spoken, Johnu1...I agree as it seems that some people feel the MVC has to expand.

[RacerJoeD]

Arlington exploring a move

https://twitter.com/tdaragincajuns/status/1433548795808296962?s=21

[usc4valpo]

Bring in SFA. beautiful campus, would fit with the MVFC.

[valpotx]

Bring in SFA. beautiful campus, would fit with the MVFC.

No party schools allowed

[usc4valpo]

Nothing wrong with working hard and playing hard... 

[vu84v2]

Bring in SFA. beautiful campus, would fit with the MVFC.

No party schools allowed

SIU?

[usc4valpo]

we need more schools with the social experience to balance out those that do not.
BTW- a party school can be great academically - take Wisconsin for example.

[bbtds]

we need more schools with the social experience to balance out those that do not.
BTW- a party school can be great academically - take Wisconsin for example.

So now the Badgers are moving to the MVC?

Bad move I say.

[covufan]

I seem to recall Playboy ranking Valpo in the top party schools in the 1982-85 era.

Party on, Garth!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[elephtheria47]

Well the AAC just imploded with cincy, byu, Houston, and ucf going to the big 12. What do they do now? Can't think of any clear needle movers.

Would WSU come back to the MVC? Would some A10 teams make the move to the AAC? I'd believe the A10 is more stable and may actually be better as a whole (but money talks). Would WSU try to target any of their old friends who are still in the MVC? About to get interesting

[vu72]

Well the AAC just imploded with cincy, byu, Houston, and ucf going to the big 12. What do they do now? Can't think of any clear needle movers.

Would WSU come back to the MVC? Would some A10 teams make the move to the AAC? I'd believe the A10 is more stable and may actually be better as a whole (but money talks). Would WSU try to target any of their old friends who are still in the MVC? About to get interesting

Their problem is football.  That's where the tv money is and where are they going to get football schools?  WSU is the only school in the American that doesn't play football.

[usc4valpo]

WSU may be a good candidate for the Big East.
Also, are BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston going to accept the offer?
Also, I am surprised Boise State was not included in the discussion. The area is booming and a great opportunity.

[vu84v2]

WSU may be a good candidate for the Big East.
Also, are BYU, Cincy, UCF, and Houston going to accept the offer?
Also, I am surprised Boise State was not included in the discussion. The area is booming and a great opportunity.

I do not see the Big East having any interest in WSU. The conference emphasizes market size and Wichita is too small.

All four have accepted or will accept. They applied and some have announced they are moving (Houston and BYU, I think).

I am also surprised Boise State was not in the Big 12 discussion. They could have been a more logical choice than UCF, but it is about markets and Orlando is a lot bigger and it will give the Bg 12 visibility in Florida.

Will this affect the better non-football conferences (Big East, MVC, WCC, A10)? Other than BYU and the WCC, I don't foresee any big changes unless someone decides to move up to FBS football. The western WAC teams are probably already on the phone to the WCC people, but I think Seattle might be the only one getting their calls answered. I do think that the AAC is going to make strong moves to get the best Sun Belt programs.

[wh]

AAC Commissioner: We Will Expand, Remain 'Power 6' in Light of Big 12 Realignment

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/.amp/college/2021/09/08/big-12-expansion-aac-mike-aresco-reaction

The AAC will be looking for football schools.

"Though Aresco declined to reveal potential new members, the top options are likely to start with UAB, a rising power in the G5 located in the heart of the Deep South. Football success is an important piece to any new additions, as well as fan support and school resources. Several others may fit that mold, including Air Force, Army, Colorado State, Boise State, North Texas, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina and Arkansas State."

I don't see MVC schools playing any part in the replacement conversation, even secondarily as candidates for programs that move to the AAC.

[usc4valpo]

vu84v2 - Wichita and Omaha are not that different in size.
Also, Boise is a fast growing boom town with a great college fan base better than Cincy and most certainly Houston.

Next you will see West Virginia leave the Big 12 and then Boise State will join.

[vu84v2]

usc4valpo - Always enjoy your insights and enthusiasm.

Creighton got into the Big East because they were the right type of school that was available at the right time. When the 'Catholic 7' revolted to form their own new Big East, they wanted private schools (preferably Catholic) with strong basketball programs in decent or large markets. Creighton fit the bill, Xavier fit the bill, Butler mostly fit the bill....Wichita State would not have fit that bill. The recent addition of UConn is a bit odd, but they have a large fan base and great programs across all of their sports (other than football).

I think West Virginia would like to leave the Big 12 for the Big Ten, ACC or SEC - but I don't think those conferences have any interest in West Virginia.

Boise to the Big 12?  I don't see it. You are probably right about their strong fan base, but the potential from the market size is far less than the four schools that they are adding.

[usc4valpo]

It's great we can disagree and respect and enjoy these discussions, and not act like our recent government.

I give the Big 12 credit for responding proactively and trying to make lemonade out of a lemon situation.

[valpotx]

I thought it funny that many sports analysts were predicting a jump by some of the remaining Big 12 schools to the AAC, driven by ESPN's desire to get out of the Big 12 TV deal.  That just wasn't going to happen, as the Big 12 still has a better reputation than the AAC. 

[VUGrad1314]

And... Here... We... Go....

https://csnbbs.com/thread-929725.html


There might be a real chance Belmont and Murray State could be looking for a new home. I hope the MVC is ready!

[wh]

This is an interesting development. I've long said that all the MVC expansion speculation is crazy talk, especially as it pertains to Belmont and Texas - Arlington. Now I'm not so sure.